Rocketboom

Researchers at China’s Wuhan University have successfully spliced human genes into rice plants. No, this is not some neo-communist plot conceived to create a 21st century “red army” of genetically superior mutant rice-soldiers intent on securing China’s world-dominance. China is well on its way without a mutant army. Instead these genetically modified grains are designed to save lives by producing a key component of human blood. The protein, Human Serum Albumin (HSA), is the most plentiful protein found in human blood. HSA performs important biological functions (trucking hormones and minerals around the body, removing toxins from the bloodstream and helping to regulate blood pressure, to name a few), and has a number of emergency-room-ready applications as well (e.g. treating burn victims, severe blood loss, and liver disease).

Currently, HSA is primarily collected from donated human plasma, which is in constant short-supply. The idea coming out of Wuhan is that one could potentially grow crops of the genetically modified rice in the fields on a large enough scale to mass-produce HSA for use in hospitals and make HSA shortages a thing of the past. (I shamefully admit to never once setting foot onto a Red Cross cookie-&-needle-mobile to donate, so I gotta say, I’m glad to see this development, if only for my selfish IV-avoiding reasons.) Further, there is apparently no risk of contracting HIV/AIDS from a rice-based HSA transfusion, as can be the case with human-derived blood products. Presumably the same goes for having unprotected sex with a genetically modified rice plant, though I would still recommend against sharing needles, because that’s just unsanitary.

This latest work to introduce human genes into rice is likely to inflame opposition to genetic modification technology further amid fears over the safety of genetically modified crops and alarm at combining human genes with those from other species. A notion I can totally understand might cause some alarm. The stuff apparently works, though. The protein has been shown effective in relieving symptoms of cirrhosis in lab rats suffering from the disease, and the tests run in the labs have demonstrated no adverse reactions in the protein’s rodent-recipients. The real test will be to show that this stuff can be purified and sterilized so that it is safe for human use (human trials have not yet begun). And after that, maybe farmer John can start growing fields of blood to help solve the world’s HSA supply issues. Maybe the mid-west will become known as America’s blood-basket. Maybe just maybe… “O beautiful for spacious skies, for crimson waves of blood-rice…” will actually happen. Wouldn’t that be something?